Second Derby Winner to Take Up Residence at the Park this Year

Funny Cide was warmly welcomed, in the bitter cold weather, to the Hall of Champions on Friday December 5, 2008. Here are some of the photos and videos from the event.

Video - Funny Cide Arrives at the Horse Park

Video - Funny Cide: Fan Favorite

The press release announcing that Funny Cide was coming to the Kentucky Horse Park is entered below.

LEXINGTON, KY (November 26, 2008) Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness (G1) winner Funny Cide will become the newest resident of the Kentucky Horse Park on December 5. He will join another Kentucky Derby winner, Alysheba, who came to the park in October.

Funny Cide (Distorted Humor Belle's Good Cide, by Slewacide) was bred by William Casner and Kenny Troutt's WinStar Farm in a collaborative venture with McMahon Thoroughbreds of Saratoga Springs, New York where he was foaled, raised and then sold as a yearling for $22,000 at the August 2001 Fasig-Tipton NY Bred Preferred Yearlings Sale. He was later purchased privately as a two-year old by Sackatoga Stable for $75,000. For them he went on to earn $3,529,412 and an Eclipse Award as Champion Three-Year-Old Colt, becoming the highest-earning New York-bred in history for trainer Barclay Tagg, under Jose Santos. His nine stakes wins also included the prestigious Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1).

John Nicholson, Executive Director of the Kentucky Horse Park stated, Funny Cide will be a welcome addition to our Hall of Champions. He was one of those rare horses who captured the public's imagination while he was on the track and continues to have a significant following of loyal fans. He is quite a young horse, so we hope the public will visit him often and get to know him over the coming years, and develop a special relationship with him the way they have so many of our other resident champions. We are honored that Funny Cide's connections recognized the Kentucky Horse Park as a good fit for their horse and his fans."

Jack Knowlton, Managing Partner of Sackatoga Stable, stated "The 10 owners of Funny Cide are truly honored that the Kentucky Horse Park has invited him to reside in its Hall of Champions. We are pleased that his large fan base will have an opportunity to visit him at this wonderful facility not too far from his greatest triumph."

WinStar Farm's President, Doug Cauthen, said, "Funny Cide helped put WinStar Farm on the map, because he proved we could breed a top horse, and that we were willing to sell our best to promote our stallions. He was the first classic winner for his sire Distorted Humor, who is the foundation stallion at WinStar Farm, and who has proven to be one of the top sires in the world. Watching Funny Cide win the Kentucky Derby was a surreal moment, and a game-changing event for WinStar Farm. We owe him big!"

Since his retirement as a race horse in 2007, the eight-year-old gelding has been used as Barclay Tagg's stable pony on the track. According to Barclay, "The rigors of racing and training for several years have started to cause him mild discomfort recently as he continued working on a regular basis as my stable pony. So, now the time has come, as he is turning 9-years-old, to really retire."

Robin Smullen, the Assistant Trainer to Barclay Tagg stated, "We have been fortunate and very blessed to have had Funny Cide in our lives. He has changed people's perspective about horse racing. Realistically, he is a once in a lifetime horse and now he will be able to touch other people's lives in his retirement. We will miss him dearly in our daily schedule."

Funny Cide has his own website, FunnyCide.com, and a fan club.

The public is invited to the Kentucky Horse Park for Funny Cide's Welcome Reception on Friday, Dec 5 at 2pm. It is included with park admission.

Racing photo of Funny Cide by Barbara Livingston, Saratoga, NY